Suit Up For Summer Day Two

Are you ready for day two of the Suit Up For Summer tour? Wasn’t yesterday just awesome?! Today won’t disappoint either- you’ve got one swim newbie, a talented children’s pattern designer and tester call, a swimsuit sewing veteran, and a super cute women’s suit pattern tester call! Make sure to head over to Paisley Roots for another adorable suit and some fabric shopping tips!

Make sure you see my last post to enter the giveaways. (GIVEAWAYS ARE CLOSED)

I’m talking ladies swimsuits today and I’m going to be completely honest with you all- I really have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to women’s swimsuits. My past adventures in sewing swimwear for myself have been fairly easy. I’ve only ever made rash guard tops by adding a lining, cups and an elastic shelf bra to the Lane Raglan. A raglan is about as beginner friendly as it gets- add a couple more steps and voila! Instant swim top!

Nothing mind blowing but I usually live in these on our beach vacations and long days at the pool. For this years suits I wanted to change it up but kept going back to the same look and coverage these suits offered. I decided to use a couple of Patterns for Pirates to achieve this look. Judy at P4P has generously offered a discount code for our readers during the tour. Use code ‘swimtour’ to receive $2 off any swim pattern in the shop!

I used the Hello Sailor Swim Bottoms for nice bum coverage! I hate worrying that I’m flashing innocent people! I followed the tip to add power mesh to just the front belly area and love the ‘spanx’ effect. I did a straight size medium and can’t wait to make more of these. The pattern comes with a handful of fun options so I’ll be changing it up a bit too.

I used the Layer Me Up top pattern for this hack. I’ll tell you what I did and what I’d do differently next go round. With swim I don’t feel like you can really muslin a pattern so I just go for it and hope it works out! I cut a front lining piece and cropped the tee to my natural waistline in a straight medium also (my normal size). I added cups to the lining (I ended up doubling them up for a little more umph!) and did an extra wide band at the bottom, hoping to avoid the elastic of the shelf bra. Well, it wasn’t love so back to the drawing board.

Off went the band and I ruched the sides of the bottom piece with a small piece of elastic for a little detail and added my standard 3/4″ elastic under the bra cups. I really wanted the top to meet the bottoms and think this is the best I could get. I think I’d use the LMU in the future but I will just do it the full length I need and add the cups and elastic shelf bra like I did in my raglan rash guards.

One tip I did learn with the elastic under the cups is to have it not quite meet the side seams. I usually try to catch it in the seams for extra strength but since this was added after the seams were done I just secured the elastic to the lining only. The benefit is that it doesn’t pull at the side seam- I’ll share a top later this week that has this issue.

I really like the coverage of this suit and know I’ll be comfortable wrangling my kiddos at the pool in it. I picked up the fabric for my top and also my bra cups (4/$1!) in the LA Fabric District. I love that place!

I’m really tempted to try my hand at sewing an actual swim top! Our sponsors have some great choices! The Siren Swim Top from Patterns for Pirates is so cute! Closet Case Patterns offers two super chic swim options- the Sophie Swimsuit and the Bombshell (I actually have one that’s been cut and waiting to be sewn for far too long!). 5 out of 4 Patterns has a bunch of fun, sporty options and Rad Patterns has two swimsuits with the most options I’ve ever seen! Jalie has a ton of patterns to choose from and you can get one for you and your mini me all in one sweet deal. Laela Jeyne has two versatile, cute patterns- a fun skirted one piece and a vintage inspired bikini set. Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop has swimwear for the whole family!

I love that swimsuit on you. It is so cute! I agree on not doing muslins…I generally just go for it, too. Usually it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t. I like to use the micromesh/powermesh in my suits, too. Every little bit helps! 🙂